Television personality, food activist, and internationally acclaimed chef Jamie Oliver received Harvard School of Public Health’s (HSPH) Healthy Cup Award on May 22, 2012 at a packed ceremony at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center in Boston. More than 500 people came to see Oliver, star of TV series such as Naked Chef and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, receive the award. “We need a food revolution,” Oliver told the audience. “Imagine a world where children are fed real food and educated about it." Oliver was honored for his transformative work on school lunch programs in the United States and the United Kingdom and for the dramatic influence his advocacy has had on public opinion around childhood obesity. His message—that community-wide as well as individual changes are needed to solve the obesity epidemic—reached millions when ABC’s Food Revolution, a reality TV program, documented his efforts to overhaul school meals in Huntington, West Virginia, and the Los Angeles Unified School District. The HSPH award ceremony followed Oliver’s global “Food Revolution Day,” held on May 19th. Click here for a six-minute video.

(Top row) Among the people who registered for and attended the event was New Bedford Mass In Motion coordinator Pauline Hamel who watched a short video about Oliver’s global “Food Revolution Day,” (Row two) Healthy City coordinator David Weed, Partners School Wellness Coordinator Marcia Picard and UMass Extention Nutrition Education Project Leader Pat Bebo watched as Harvard School of Public Health Dean Julio Frenk and Department Chair Walter Willett presented the Healthy Cup to Oliver. (Row three) Mr. Oliver held the cup as he shared his thoughts on getting the prestigious award from "all you clever people." (Bottom row) Following a photo-op, the audience was invited to a reception featuring dishes made with whole grains and raw vegetables.